The volumes of the Project on the History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization aim at discovering the main aspects of India's Heritage and present them in an interrelated way. In spite of their unitary look, these volumes recognize the Difference between the areas of material civilization and those of ideational culture. The project is not being executed by a single group of thinkers and writers who are methodologically uniform or ideologically identical in their commitments. The project is marked by what may be called ' methodological pluralism'. Inspite of its primarily historical character, this project, both in its conceptualization and execution, has been shaped by scholars drawn from different disciplines. It is the first time that an endeavour of such unique and comprehensive Character has been undertaken to Study critically a major World civilization.
This PHISPC volume deals with science, literature and aesthetics as interrelated and/or complementary categories. Its forty-three chapters, including the reprint of an old essay by s.n. Bose on the early twentieth century challenges to science, are laid out in three sections comprising the issues in focus-issues of where these interrelations and/or complementarities may lie, select thought systems of the world as probable instances of them, and samples of Indian Modernity that might have been propelled by them. The contributors are from various disciplines, the physical, life and Mathematical sciences, philosophy and the philosophy of science, the Science of language, literary and Cultural studies, social sciences including history and economics, Art history and musicology-but none bound by their four walls, instead negotiating with a broader epistemology. Besides they are identified by their subjects, not their subjects by them, which is why some of them are from overseas. This book will attract General readers and scholars alike from all the interrelated disciplines. |
